US Official Criticizes New Draft of UNESCO Resolution Labeling Israeli Presence in Jerusalem ‘Illegal’.

US Official Criticizes New Draft of UNESCO Resolution Labeling Israeli Presence in Jerusalem ‘Illegal’. (algemeiner).

The latest draft of a resolution entitled “Occupied Palestine” to be voted on this Tuesday by UNESCO, the United Nations cultural agency, has been sharply condemned by a US official.

The resolution – submitted by Arab states Algeria, Egypt, Lebanon, Morocco, Qatar and Sudan –  declares as its aim the “safeguarding of the cultural heritage of Palestine and the distinctive character of East Jerusalem.” The resolution goes on to attack Israel in the harshest terms, stating that all measures taken by the Jewish state in its capital are “illegal” and “null and void.”

“UNESCO is too often used as a vehicle by member states inclined to delegitimize the State of Israel,” the US official told The Algemeiner. “Although several of these anti-Israel resolutions are typically adopted biannually by UNESCO, over time they have become increasingly political in nature and now question Israel’s basic claim to historic sites.”

Although the resolution — a copy of which was obtained by The Algemeiner — reaffirms “the importance of the Old City of Jerusalem and its Walls for the three monotheistic religions,” it continues by asserting that “all legislative and administrative measures and actions taken by Israel, the occupying Power, which have altered or purport to alter the character and status of the Holy City of Jerusalem, and in particular the ‘basic law’ on Jerusalem, are null and void and must be rescinded forthwith.”

The Basic Law on Jerusalem was passed by the Knesset in August 1980. It affirms that “Jerusalem, complete and united, is the capital of Israel.”

The mention in the current draft of the “Holy City” of Jerusalem is a slight modification of the original draft, which read: “Any action taken by Israel, the occupying power, to impose its laws, jurisdiction, and administration on the city of Jerusalem, are illegal and therefore null and void and have no validity whatsoever.” Read the full story here.

"Judaism was founded over 3500 years ago; Islam dates to the seventh century. The resolution flies in the face of both the Bible, bedrock of civilization, archaeological evidence, and scholarship." 

Abbas's BFF Pope Francis better releases a new version of the Bible as well. 

Alleged Iranian spy to be put on trial in Germany, spied on Israeli and Jewish institutions.

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Alleged Iranian spy to be put on trial in Germany, spied on Israeli and Jewish institutions. (DS).

A 31-year-old Pakistani man is going on trial in Berlin on allegations he spied for Iran on Israeli and Jewish institutions in Germany and elsewhere in Europe.

Syed Mustufa H., whose full name was not giving for privacy reasons, is due in court Wednesday on espionage charges.

H., who came to Germany in 2012 to go to university, is accused of having collected information on a professor at a university in Paris, the former president of the German-Israel Society and others in Western European countries.

Prosecutors say he then passed the information to a contact person with the Iranian intelligence agency. He's alleged to have received at least 2,052 euros ($2,170) for his spying activities.
H., who was arrested in July 2016, faces a possible five years in prison.

Kuwaiti journalist: "Be Brave [Trump] – Move [The Embassy] to Jerusalem and Trust in God."

Kuwaiti journalist: "Be Brave [Trump] – Move [The Embassy] to Jerusalem and Trust in God." (MEMRI).

Kuwaiti journalist 'Abdallah Al-Hadlaq also expressed support for relocating the embassy, in a January 28, 2017 article in the Al-Watan daily titled "Be Brave [Trump] – Move [The Embassy] to Jerusalem and Trust in God."

Quoting extensively from an article by Robert Satloff, executive director of the Washington Institute for Near East Policy, which presents arguments in favor of the embassy move,[2] Al-Hadlaq argued the move could involve extensive benefits and not only dangers and drawbacks.

He concluded by saying: "Wise and intelligent diplomats, politicians and pundits are telling Trump, who is reluctant to move the embassy to Jerusalem: 'Be brave, move it to Jerusalem and trust in God."[3]

Prominent Saudi Journalist: West Jerusalem Is Part Of Israel; Moving The U.S. Embassy There As Part Of Overall Peace Agreement Could Herald The End Of The Israeli-Palestinian Conflict . 

In a January 25, 2017 article in the London-based daily Al-Sharq Al-Awsat, prominent Saudi journalist 'Abd Al-Rahman Al-Rashed, the daily's former editor and the former director of Al-Arabiya TV, discussed the issue of the U.S. moving its embassy in Israel from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem. 

He stated that the Israeli sovereignty over West Jerusalem is a settled matter, and that moving the U.S. embassy there, or any other embassy, would not lend legitimacy to the occupation. Rather, if U.S. President Donald Trump moved the embassy to Jerusalem as part of an overall peace agreement, this measure could actually mark the end of the occupation and the conflict.

Al-Rashed also noted that, in the 2000 Camp David talks, Yasser Arafat sadly missed an opportunity to restore East Jerusalem to the Palestinians as part of then-U.S. president Bill Clinton's unprecedented proposal for resolving the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. He added that today, due to the crises plaguing the Middle East, "the Palestinian cause is no longer central," although extremists exploit the Palestinian tragedy to further their own interests.

It should be noted that one day before Al-Rashed's article was published, Saudi columnist Muhammad Aal Al-Sheikh published an article in the official Saudi daily Al-Jazirah titled "The Palestinians Have No [Choice] But Peace." 

Like Al-Rashed, he argued that the Arab world, currently preoccupied with civil wars and with fighting home-grown terrorism, no longer regards the Palestinian cause as its foremost concern, and called on the Palestinians to forgo armed resistance and embrace the two-state solution – for that is the only solution that is feasible and supported by the international community.[1]

The following are excerpts from 'Abd Al-Rahman Al-Rashed's article in Al-Sharq Al-Awsat:[4]

Video - Flashback: Foundation for Defense of Democracies Vice Pres Jonathan Schanzer on a White House plan that would kill the peace process.

Here's my @WSJ interview on Obama's 6 menu options on Israel heading into lame duck. Wish I'd been wrong: https://t.co/vuWLrOaLlb

— Jonathan Schanzer (@JSchanzer) December 26, 2016

He nailed it perfectly early 2009.

'Antisemitic' UNESCO refuses to backtrack on 'Muslim Temple Mount'.

SOURCE

UNESCO refuses to backtrack on 'Muslim Temple Mount'. (INN).

UNESCO head calls for 'respect and dialogue' following outrage over its decision, but does not take back saying Temple Mount is Muslim.

The UN cultural body on Monday called for "respect and dialogue" following outrage over its vote divorcing the Temple Mount from the Jewish people, but did not take back its attempt to rewrite history at the holiest site in Judaism.

"Jerusalem is a Holy Land of the three monotheistic religions, a place of dialogue for all Jewish, Christian and Muslim people. Nothing should be undertaken to alter its integrity and authenticity," UNESCO chief Irina Bokova said in a statement.

"Only respect and dialogue can build the trust we need to move forward."

The UNESCO executive board on Thursday adopted a resolution on "Occupied Palestine" presented by several Arab countries.

It referred to Israel as the "occupying power" several times, and only referred to the Temple Mount as Al-Aqsa Mosque, likewise calling the Western Wall by the name Al-Buraq Wall, a term created in the 1920s by Arabs in an ahistorical attempt to claim the site.

The resolution criticized Israel for "excavations and works" in eastern Jerusalem, and urged it to stop "aggressions and illegal measures against the freedom of worship and Muslims' access" to the Temple Mount.

The resolution also outrageously accused Israel of "planting fake Jewish graves in Muslim cemeteries."

Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu on Saturday night slammed the resolution as "yet another absurd UN decision."

"UNESCO ignores the unique historic connection of Judaism to the Temple Mount, where the two Temples stood for a thousand years and to which every Jew in the world has prayed for thousands of years. The UN is rewriting a basic part of human history and has again proven that there is no low to which it will not stoop."

Then on Sunday Science Minister Ofir Akunis (Likud) slammed UNESCO for its "boorishness" in a letter to Bokova, noting how the decision shows a "resounding lack of historical knowledge."

Rabbi Chaim Richman of the Temple Institute on Monday issued a sharp response to the decision, which "ignores the Jewish people’s connection to the Temple Mount is another politically-motivated act of revisionist history, obscene even by the standards of this morally bankrupt organization."

"Judaism was founded over 3500 years ago; Islam dates to the seventh century. The resolution flies in the face of both the Bible, bedrock of civilization, archaeological evidence, and scholarship."

Video - Israel, Palestinian representatives clash at the UN, April 18 2016.

The Israeli and Palestinian ambassadors engaged in a rare shouting match in the UN Security Council on Monday. (April 18 2016)

UNESCO scrubs Jewish History, Renames Western Wall "Al-Buraq Plaza".

UNESCO scrubs Jewish History, Renames Western Wall "Al-Buraq Plaza". (JBN).

On Friday, the United Nations Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization’s (UNESCO) Executive Board in Paris adopted a resolution erasing Israel’s ties to the Temple Mount and the Western Wall.

The UNESCO resolution referred to the Temple Mount area solely as the Al-Aqsa Mosque or Al-Haram Al Sharif, ignoring the Jewish claim to the site.

The resolution called Israel “the occupying power” and the Western Wall as Al-Buraq Plaza. It demanded that Israel not restrict Muslim access to the Temple Mount, condemning Israel for “illegal measures against the freedom of worship” at the “Muslim holy site of worship”.

It demanded a return to the “status quo”. The status quo since Israel conquered the Temple Mount in 1967 forbids non-Muslim prayer on the Temple Mount and has remained unchanged.

Blaming “Israel aggression” for the violence at the site, it had no mention of the role of Muslim rioters.

It also condemned the Israel’s plans to establish an egalitarian, non-Orthodox prayer section by Robinson’s Arch.

It accused Israel of “planting Jewish fake graves in other spaces of the Muslim cemeteries” located on Waqf property east and south of the Temple Mount, and of “the continued conversion of many Islamic and Byzantine remains into the so-called Jewish ritual baths or into Jewish prayer places.”.

It referred to Hebron and Bethlehem as solely “Palestinian sites”.

Authorized by the executive board’s Programme and External Relations Commission, the resolution was submitted by Algeria, Egypt, Lebanon, Morocco, Oman, Qatar, and Sudan.

The 58-member board approved the resolution with 33 votes in favor, six against and 17 abstentions. Two countries, Ghana and Turkmenistan were absent all together. Estonia, Germany, Lithuania, Netherlands, the United Kingdom and the US voted against the resolution. France, Spain, Slovenia, Sweden, Russia and Slovenia were among those countries that supported the resolution.

Israeli ambassador to UNESCO, Carmel Shama, released a statement saying, “Even if UNESCO passes dozens of resolutions, and decides to continue passing thousands more, Jerusalem will always remain as part of the capital of Israel and the Jewish people.” Shama added, “As you continue on this path of incitement, lies and terror you will be sending UNESCO down a path towards irrelevance.”

“This is yet another absurd UN decision,” Netanyahu said Saturday. “UNESCO ignores the unique historic connection of Judaism to the Temple Mount, where the two temples stood for a thousand years and to which every Jew in the world has prayed for thousands of years. The UN is rewriting a basic part of human history and has again proven that there is no low to which it will not stoop.” Hmmm.....Rewriting History an Islamist Favorite Pass Time. 

John Kerry to the World: 'Let’s Gang up on Israel'.

John Kerry to the World: 'Let’s Gang up on Israel'. (Algemeiner). By Stephen M. Flatow.

John Kerry has a new strategy for achieving Mideast peace: mobilize the international community to gang up on Israel.

That was the essence of the secretary of state’s disturbing remarks in Paris on March 13. Kerry declared that the Obama administration is “looking for a way forward” to bring about creation of a Palestinian state. He said that Palestinian statehood is “absolutely essential.”

Not just “an idea worth exploring;” not just “something to be considered’.” Rather, “absolutely essential.”

Kerry and President Obama have made up their minds and will not consider any alternatives. They have decided that establishing an independent Palestinian state is the only solution to the Arab-Israeli conflict. It’s just a question of how to make it happen.

The administration’s attempts to pressure Israel into creating a Palestinian state obviously have not been successful so far. So Kerry is looking for new ways to harangue the Israelis. Standing next to a group of European foreign ministers at the Paris press conference, Kerry said: “There’s not any one country or one person who can resolve this. This is going to require the global community, it will require international support.”

Significantly, Kerry’s quest for an international alliance to pressure Israel comes on the heels of France’s recent announcement that it will try to convene an international conference to resolve the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. The French said that if the conference failed to produce a Palestinian state, they will go ahead and unilaterally recognize such a state. That’s the French idea of “negotiations.”

The French — evidently with Kerry’s tacit approval, or perhaps even his encouragement–are pushing forward. French diplomat Pierre Vimont will be visiting Israel and the Palestinian Authority this week to promote France’s initiative. French Foreign Minister Jean-Marc Ayrault, appearing alongside Kerry at the press conference: “The conflict is getting worse and the status quo cannot continue.”

The conflict is getting worse? No, it’s not. 

The status quo cannot continue? Yes, it can. Read the full story here.

Trudeau’s 'Islamic' Parliamentary Secretary: recruit Arabs and Muslims to RCMP to better identify terrorists

Trudeau’s 'Islamic' Parliamentary Secretary: recruit Arabs and Muslims to RCMP to better identify terrorists.(Cijnews).

Omar Alghabra (MP Mississauga Centre) was appointed on December 2, 2015 by Prime Minister Justin Trudeau to the Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Foreign Affairs (Consular Affairs).

According to the official site of the Canadian federal legislature, Parliamentary secretaries help ministers maintain contacts with parliamentary committees and the department. The prime minister may assign parliamentary secretaries specific policy-related priorities. While overall responsibility and accountability remain with the minister, he or she may delegate specific policy development duties to a parliamentary secretary.

Omar Alghabra (Mississauga-Centre) was born in 1969 in Khobar Saudi Arabia to Syrian parents and came to Canada alone at the age of 19. He was previously a Member of Parliament from 2006 to 2008 and represented Mississauga-Erindale before the boundaries were redrawn.

Recruit Arabs and Muslims, remove the motive requirement from the definition of terrorism.

In 2005, Omar Alghabra, then the President of the Canadian Arab Federation (CAF), testified on the Anti Terrorism Act and the security certificates in front of the Parliament’s Subcommittee on Public Safety and National Security.

The Canadian Arab Federation, headed by Omar Alghabra and CAIR-CAN (Council on American Islamic Relations – Canada; later changed its name to The National Council of Canadian Muslims – NCCM) submitted to the Subcommittee on Public Safety and National Security a joint position paper entitled: “Brief on the Review of the Anti-terrorism Act”.

The CAF – CAIR document contains a series of recommendations that “should guide reform of national security law, policy and institutions in order to restore respect for the rule of law, human dignity and the confidence of Arab and Muslim Canadians.”

The recommendations include, among others, the following:

Trust and Real Security…

• “Diversify national security agencies and bureaucracies by hiring qualified Arabs and Muslims as staff and policy makers;
• “Engage meaningful input, advice and direct participation from Arabs and Muslims on national security policy and law;
• “Design robust training programs for intelligence and national security staff that is based on dialogue with communities and substantive education; and
• “Rectify mistakes committed through national security investigations and the national security system (e.g. listing of terrorists, no-fly lists, FINTRAC notices)…
• . listing of terrorists, no-fly lists, FINTRAC notices)…

“Oversight and Accountability…


• “Involve Arabs and Muslims in the establishment and operation of the oversight system


“Profiling..
• “The federal government work with Arab and Muslim communities to design an investigative study that will be undertaken by an independent panel of mutually agreed upon experts;
• “The panel should be sufficiently resourced to undertake a comprehensive and meaningful study;
• “The panel should examine the policies and operational practices of our security agencies where terrorism is involved and identify inconsistencies between policy and practice;
• “The panel should travel across Canada to meet with Arabs and Muslims and listen to their narratives…

“Law Reform…

• “Recruit qualified Arabs and Muslims as security cleared counsel, policy makers and judges;
• “Abolish security certificates because they offend the rule of law, equality and fundamental justice;
• “Remove the motive requirement from the definition of terrorism…
• “Redraft the facilitation offence to avoid criminalizing innocent charitable and community activity.”

Unlike Arabs and Muslims, RCMP and CSIS officers lack the cultural background to identify terrorists.

In his testimony on September 20, 2005, Omar Alghabra explained the idea behind recommending the security agencies to hire Arabs and Muslims by suggesting that they, meaning the Arab and Muslim Police officers, have an inherent advantage over others because of their cultural background that may help them better identify the terrorists.
Omar Alghabra said: “First of all, on the reasons why we’re asking for Arabs and Muslims to be within the police force, they’re going to identify who the terrorists are, and because a lot of these practices are a result of ignorance of the tradition and culture of Arabs and Muslims, the only way to sensitize the agencies is by diversifying them.”

Hezbollah, Hamas, Islamic Jihad and al-Aqsa Brigades should not be designated as terrorist organizations

On September 17, 2004, Omar Alghabra, then the President of the Canadian Arab Federation, slammed the “biased reporting” approach espoused by CanWest. As a glaring example to the “biased approach” the statement noted that CanWest described al-Aqsa Martyrs Brigades a “terrorist” organization.

It should be noted that the Palestinian militant group al-Aqsa Martyrs was officially designated by the Canadian government as a terrorist organization since April 2, 2003.

“CanWest, one of the largest media conglomerates in Canada, is failing its responsibility towards all Canadians, not just Arabs and Muslims,” said Omar Alghabra, CAF president. 

“The media has moral and ethical obligations to report the facts when it comes to news reporting, not the opinions of their editors.”

The “social” network of Hezbollah, Hamas and Islamic Jihad is legitimate and should be financially supported by Canadians

Two years earlier, the Canadian Arab Federation called on the federal government not to designate Hezbollah, Hamas and the Islamic Jihad as terrorist organizations. The following are excerpts of the CAF’s press release in this regard issued on December 9, 2012:
“The Canadian Arab Federation (CAF) called on the Minister of Foreign Affairs and the Solicitor General to proceed with extreme caution on the matter of adding to the Canadian list of terrorist organizations.
“In letters to Bill Graham and Wayne Easter, CAF urged the ministers to assess genuine and credible security concerns, rather than political motivations, before adding organizations to the list.

“CAF explained that it views Hezbollah as a legitimate Lebanese political party, in that it has representation in the country’s parliament and an extensive network of badly needed social service programs.

“CAF implored the ministers not to succumb to political pressure, and to use only the rule of law and substantiated evidence in determining the status of Hezbollah in Canada.

“With respect to the recent addition of Hamas and Islamic Jehad [sic] to the list of terrorist organizations, CAF indicated that these two organizations were borne out of 35 years of violent occupation of Palestine.

“The listing of these organizations does not recognize the reality of the occupation and the context within which the violence is taking place,” the letters said. “The Canadian government as such has censured one form of violence while remaining silent on another – hardly an even-handed approach.”

“CAF also pointed out that the listings will severely curb legitimate fundraising for charitable and humanitarian causes, and might affect the remittances from Palestinian Canadians that many families in the impoverished West Bank and Gaza have come to depend on.

“Provisions need to be made to avoid worsening the already appalling humanitarian situation in Palestine by the application of the terrorist label to these two organizations”, CAF stated. Read the full story here.

Hamas was designated a terrorist org, & PMJT appointed a Parl Secty who supports it, the #CPC Caucus shld submit a 'loyalty to Cnda motion

— Carol Husband (@CarolHusband) December 12, 2015

Video - Dec 2008; Palestinian supporters threaten Parisian club Bataclan, 'next time we won't come to talk'. (French).